After hearing Abaddon's laughter so clearly, there wasn't an immortal soul inside who wasn't mesmerized by the sound.
Including of course, Nyx.
She quickly crossed the room and rested her breasts atop his head.
It was then that she noticed that her friend was completely fine, just as he would have been at home.
"Hm? Aba-Daddy, you're fine?"
"What did you just call me..?"
"Don't like it?"
"No-"
"Too bad!"
Abaddon wondered if this was how Demeter and Sif felt when he gave them their hated nicknames…
"Nyx, will you please get off of my husband please?" Lisa posed it like a question, but truth be told it wasn't a matter up for debate.
But Nyx already knew by now not to be fooled by her outwardly gentle smile.
Still, flirting with danger did always amuse her.
"Aww, you can have my attention too, Lovely Lisa. How bout a little kiss-"
""You will be kissing your life goodbye in the process!""
"Tch. Spoilsports.."
Nyx finally removed her breasts from Abaddon's head and instead gave him a friendly hug from behind.
"It's nice to see you're doing well." She whispered.
Abaddon smiled faintly as he placed a hand over her arm. "Thank you for coming nonetheless, my friend. I feel a bit more at ease with you here."
If Nyx was in possession of a tail, it's wagging would have generated winds strong enough to blow down buildings.
"Nyx, Erebus… I don't recall inviting you to this event." Shiva interjected. "Though I have my theories as to how you may have gotten an invite…"
The blue god already looked exhausted, and the late pair had barely even said anything.
Nyx finally released Abaddon and pointed over her shoulder dismissively.
"I was coming here alone, but someone decided to follow me incessantly and fill my ears with needless chatter. Feel free to kick him out."
"Over my dead body."
The man who entered with Nyx finally spoke up.
His leather shoes rapped off the floor as he approached Nyx with his hand outstretched.
"I've come to make amends here, and I won't be leaving until my wife is returned to my side."
Unsurprisingly, his eyes landed on Abaddon out of everyone else in the room.
"…Don't fucking look at me, I don't want her."
"Can you not act with the faintest bit of tact for once!" Nyx yanked Abaddon's horn so hard that it almost came out of his skull.
"I'm tired of men thinking I want their wives everytime I leave my house. Do you know that Darius doesn't even invite me over anymore?"
"Why, what'd you do?"
"NOTHING! At one moment I was just getting out of the pool, and the next twenty six of his wives fainted." (The others were back in the house.)
Abaddon's wives didn't say it, but they were also quite glad that he stopped going to Darius' house for guys' night.
It's also part of the reason they pushed so hard for the construction of a man-cave in the new house.
"You could atleast pretend like you wanted me to get this roach off my back!" Nyx continued.
"Why would I do that? Fueling your delusions in any capacity triples my likelihood of being assaulted."
"I wouldn't assault you..!"
"I've sensed your fantasies already. I just never said anything before now."
"…"
"… Still want to argue?"
"…J-Just shut up and make room already, I want to sit down." She muttered quietly.
The wives reformed into Ayaana and left a large open space for Nyx to sit down.
After staring at Abaddon for just a few more moments, Erebus eventually sat down beside her, much to the night goddess' dismay.
Everyone in the hall stared at the group awkwardly with no idea of what to say next.
"You seem to be… quite close with our guests of honor, Nyx." Shiva finally said.
Nyx had already regained her noble and regal aura that Abaddon practically never saw when they were alone.
"Their playful companionship is a rare occurrence of intrigue in my droll existence. They keep me young."
Abaddon / Ayaana: "We're doing a bad job at it..."
"Nevermind, they are both complete and total dickheads. Atleast looking at them brings a pleasant sensation to my loins, or I would have no use for them."
Some in the hall smiled, or even snickered.
Abaddon and Ayaana were the only ones who seemed unamused.
They each threw pieces of naan at her to voice this displeasure, but Nyx just started eating them without batting an eye.
"I'm sorry… if I may?"
One of the gods sitting among the Summerians raised her hand to speak.
Abaddon was mildly surprised to see such a big shot be so polite.
Ereshkigal is the summerian goddess of the dead who rules over them alongside her chaotic and war-like husband, Nergal, who was conveniently absent.
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She leaned forward with clear interest and an inquisitive look.
"I mean no disrespect, but I am truly curious about something. Is there truly no preexisting sexual relationship between you..?"
Even Erebus turned toward the group like he needed to hear the answer a second time.
Abaddon nearly rolled his eyes out of instinct and did not bother to answer.
"No, I haven't quite hooked this whale yet." Nyx shrugged.
"Please… I don't think the discussion of such personal matters interests anyone at this table." Shiva was trying like hell to get this meeting back on track by any means necessary.
However, more than a few gods raised their hands to show that they were interested if no one else was.
Shiva sighed deeply, prompting his wife to rub his back in pity.
'This… wasn't how things were supposed to go today at all.'
-
Forty-five minutes into the banquet, the entire thing had devolved into one big meet-and-greet.
Everyone had heard tell of Abaddon through one instance or another, but none here had ever had the opportunity to converse with him before.
And his ethereal beauty, pleasant personality, and polite smile all made him seem like a charming conversationalist.
If they hadn't seen him on the verge of killing Indra a couple of moments ago, none of them would have believed this was the same man from all the stories.
The questions they asked him were not really what one would call impactful.
No one wanted to ask him or the girls about their armies, how he became so powerful, or even what his relationship was like with Yesh.
They wanted to know random, unimportant things.
It was like he was at another cocktail party and everyone was asking small questions just to figure the man out.
"Do you like the palace, dragon?" Indrani leaned forward as she spoke to ensure that Abaddon had ample view of her cleavage. "It is an old thing, but we hope you find the sights aesthetically pleasing."
Abaddon barely spared the anything in the room a second glance.
Extravagant though it may have been, it was quite frankly uninteresting to him.
Tehom had palaces like this in practically every neighborhood in most cities.
And maybe it was just because his wife designed them, he was a bit biased and believed them to be a lot better than the one he was currently sitting in.
"…The place is comfortable." Was all that he said.
Indra looked as if he'd just taken a slap in the face, while his wife simply covered her mouth and giggled like a young maiden.
"What am I saying, surely you would be used to such things by now being a dragon and all. I imagine your home to be even more beautiful than this one… I look forward to seeing it sometime."
"I'm sorry…"
Up until this point, Ayaana had been quietly drinking the entire time and forcing the burden of people pleasing onto their husband.
But with a woman so boldly flirting with him in their face, the girls understandably lost their patience and had to speak up.
They slowly tapped one of their fingers on the wooden table underneath them as they glared holes into the Queen of the Hindu Gods.
"Why would we ever invite you into our home? We employ no maids in our manor, so I fear that there would actually be quite little for you to do."
Jaws fell open and the hall was flooded with silence.
Sif : '…I can see why you married them, because that was kind of hot… which one of them is that talking by the way?'
Abaddon: 'All of them… Aren't they splendid?'
Sif: 'Dial it back, lover dragon, I can see the hearts forming in your eyes…' (This isn't an exaggeration. Abaddon's is currently so infatuated that his pupils have changed shape.)
Abaddon: 'You almost sound jealous. You shouldn't be though, since you are also someone whom I…'
Sif: 'W-What?? Someone who you what?!'
…
Sif: 'Abaddon Avernus Tathamet!! Don't you dare ignore me!! I'll scream in your head all fucking day if I have to!'
…
Sif: 'ABADDONNNNN!!!!'
While Abaddon was playing a dangerous game, the hall had suddenly gone quiet in the wake of Ayaana's scathing comments.
Indrani's face was flushed with an equal mixture of embarrassment and anger as she searched for words to say only to come up empty at every turn.
Shiva chose this moment to steer the conversation back towards it's original purpose.
Sure he was skipping over quite a few things, but… better late than never as they say.
*Ahem!* "Well since you asked, Empress, I can finally tell you both… The meeting we held today was supposed to be one of two.
Today, we wanted to learn about the man behind the stories.
We wanted to experience your temperament, discern your capacity for empathy, and your ability to be around others.
And then, if you would have us… we were hoping that you would open your lands to those of us of your choosing.
You speak virulently of your ideal re-making of the world, but how are we to know that you have the vision, or more importantly the patience to make something like that a reality?
That is why we are asking you, despite the burden you may feel, please allow us into the Abyss for but a day so that we may accurately surmise a picture of you."
Despite Sif still screaming in his mind even now, Abaddon was paying quite close attention to the words Shiva was saying.
"What will come of my opening my home to you, Shiva? I'll have you know I quite value the peace and stability of my lands. I'll not have it disrupted for simple idle study."
"Naturally, the goal here is to formulate a functioning non-aggression pact with the Hindu, Yoruba, Sumerian, and Vodou pantheons. Though it may be inconvenient, I do promise that this is an important step."
Abaddon already expected to receive such an answer, but he still would have been a fool not to get him to say the words out loud.
He looked down at his lap and found the girls staring up at him like they were waiting to hear his own thoughts.
After a short mental conversation, the two rulers turned back towards the other members at the banquet table.
"Understood. Let us pick a date then."
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